News

ReviewDirector Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval’s third film is beautifully scripted, hilarious, and has some interesting performances.CrisPerpetually tanned, with a protruding lower jaw and a tendency to break into an unusual dance, Rajeevan can easily endear himself to an audience watching his story unroll. He belongs to that breed of men who had once thieved and then turned a new leaf with a budding relationship and a promising life. But like it happens to those who had once done unlawful things, Rajeevan struggles to clear his name in another mishap. Nna Thaan Case Kodu plucks a lesson from films that have stubbornly engaged in the unravelling of a simple incident around one man’s life and works wonders with its telling. Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval’s third film is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of work and Kunchacko Boban as Rajeevan is simply a marvel to watch. Kunchacko’s growth as an...

Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s environment-themed cinematic documentary “Legacy” has been sold by Calt Distribution around the world, including to Amazon Prime Video for the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland.

A celebrated French environmentalist, photographer and filmmaker, Arthus-Bertrand (“Home”) enlisted the British singer and activist Sting to narrate the English version of the timely documentary.

“Legacy,” which aims at raising the alarm on the climate crisis, screened at COP26, the international summit in Glasgow that’s hosted by Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Through “Legacy,” Arthus-Bertrand captured the beauty of our planet and explored humans’ appropriation and the destruction of the environment.

Calt Distribution, which is part of Federation Entertainment’s newly-acquired banner Robin&Co, has also sold the lushly lensed documentary to Italy (Rai 3), Belgium (Be tv and Rtl Belux), Switzerland (Rts), Slovenia (Rtv), Czech Republic (Ceska TV), French-speaking Canada (Société Radio-Canada), French-Speaking Africa (Canal Plus International...

New Delhi, Nov 23 (Ians) Former India cricketer Suresh Raina, who will turn 34 this Friday, has pledged to build sanitation and drinking water facilities at 34 government schools across Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and the National Capital Region (Ncr) to ensure health and hygiene for over 10,000 children studying in these schools.

The year-long initiative will be executed by his Ngo, the Gracia Raina Foundation (Grf), in collaboration with Amitabh Shah's 'Yuva Unstoppable'. Apart from the hygiene and sanitation facilities, Raina's endeavour will pay special emphasis to Right Age, an adolescent reproductive and sexual health program which will be rolled out in all 34 schools.

The foundation will also establish better access to smart classes for the students in these schools, a release from the foundation stated.

"It brings me immense joy to celebrate my 34th birthday with this initiative. Every child deserves quality education and this includes their right to have access to...

The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby

Viola Davis, William Hurt, Nina Arianda, Isabelle Huppert, Bill Hader, Ciarin Hinds, Jess Weixler and Nina Arianda have joined the cast of the currently shooting "The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby" which began production today.

The dual films follow a love story between a New York City couple (James MacAvoy, Jessica Chastain) during a difficult time in their marriage. [Source: Screen Daily]

Milo

"Community" star Gillian Jacobs will star along with Ken Marino and Peter Stormare in the horror comedy "Milo" at New Artists Alliance. Jacobs will play the wife of the main character (Marino).

Jacob Vaughan ("Jeff, Who Lives at Home") makes his directorial debut on the film about a man who learns he has a demon living in his intestines and seeks therapy. [Source: Heat Vision]

Malavita

"Glee" star Dianna Agron is in negotiations to play the daughter of Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer's characters in Luc Besson...

It has been another day of mourning for the tragedy-plagued Kennedy family. The funeral for Mary Kennedy, the wife of Robert Kennedy Jr., was held Saturday in Bedford, N.Y. Kennedy died at age 52 on Wednesday of asphyxiation from hanging at her home in Mount Kisco, N.Y. In addition to the couple's children, others in attendance included Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John McEnroe and actress Glenn Close.The funeral followed a family struggle over burial rights pitting Kennedy Jr., the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy,...

The Paul Torday adaptation wins over Middle England audiences, while Kevin Macdonald's Marley proves a documentary hit

The winner

It was hardly a hit with the upscale critics and is saddled with a title that's not exactly multiplex-friendly, but Salmon Fishing in the Yemen nevertheless is the top new release at the UK box-office, opening with a highly creditable £1.17m. In a week where a record 17 new releases competed for the attention of cinemagoers, this adaptation of the Paul Torday novel proves once again the power of the older, middle-class, Middle England audience that has already proved so potent this year with the success of The Iron Lady and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. While Salmon Fishing lacks older cast members equivalent to Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent, or Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, it was clearly pitched at this market, with newspaper ads including endorsements from Woman & Home,...

Maggie Grace looks anxiously ahead at an unseen menace as she joins co-star Guy Pearce on the first official poster for space thriller Lockout.

Set in the near future, the story sees a former government agent (Pearce) wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the Us. He is then offered his freedom if he can rescue the president's daughter (Grace) from an outer space prison taken over by violent, rioting inmates.

It's directed by James Mather and Stephen St Leger in their feature film debut, and produced by Luc Besson (Taken, The Fifth Element).

Pearce's career began with the Aussie soaps Neighbours and Home & Away before moving into films including The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as well as Memento, The Hurt Locker, The King's Speech and Ridley Scott's upcoming Prometheus.

Maggie Grace is known for her roles in Taken, Lost and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

[1] As we head toward the end of the year, it's clear that 2011 has yielded some damn great performances from both established stars (Gary Oldman, Glenn Close) and rising talents (Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska). So naturally, the best way to celebrate their accomplishments is by inviting each of them to play characters wholly unlike the ones they've recently received acclaim for. In a video gallery from The New York Times Magazine titled "Touch of Evil," thirteen of this year's most notable stars tackle thirteen villainous types, from "The Menacing Dummy" (Oldman) to "The Sociopath" (Rooney Mara channeling A Clockwork Orange's Alex DeLarge) and everything in between. Hit the jump for a photo gallery from the feature. We've included a selection of stills from the Nyt Magazine feature below. Some of the stars played archetypal bad-guy figures, while others did a take on a specific character. It's well worth heading over to...

Chicago – With a tremendously promising awards season in the very near future, it’s only natural that the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival would feature an embarrassment of riches. A whopping 268 feature films and 68 shorts are scheduled to screen at the 36th edition of Tiff, which runs from September 8th through the 18th. Here are a few of the highlights.

As expected, many of the fall season’s biggest titles will have their hotly anticipated premieres, such as George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants,” Jonathan Levine’s “50/50” and David Hare’s “Page Eight.” A series of previous festival favorites will also be screened before their eventual theatrical release, including several award winners at Cannes and Sundance. Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” promises to feature a startlingly sinister performance by beloved comedian and filmmaker Albert Brooks. He plays a criminal in hot pursuit of a stunt...

News is rolling out of Toronto for this year's festival, with the Galas and the Special Presentations sections announced.  As always with Tiff, the sheer number of films can seem overwhelming, but with new films by David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method, pictured above), Terence Davies (!), Francis Ford Coppola, Wang Xiaoshuai, Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, and William Friedkin added to big names that premiered already this year (including Almodóvar, Von Trier, Nanni Moretti, and Nicolas Winding Refn) it looks like the 2011 iteration will be as packed with must-see cinema as ever before.  We'll be updating this listing as new lineups are announced.  See Tiff's official website for details.

Galas

Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia, Ireland) Butter (Jim Field Smith, USA) A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, France/Ireland/UK/Germany/Canada) From the Sky Down (Davis Guggenheim, USA) A Happy Event (Rémi Bezançon, France) The Ides of March (George Clooney, USA) The Lady (Luc Besson,...

Now in its 36th year, the Toronto International Film Festival announced a selection of films in the 2011 Galas and Special Presentations programmes. The selection comprises 10 Galas and 43 Special Presentations, including 31 World Premieres.

The festival has become a hot spot for a number of big films - and this year is no exception. The Brad Pitt film Moneyball will debut at the festival, as well as, Butter starring Jennifer Garner and Hugh Jackman; A Dangerous Method, starring Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, and Viggo Mortensen, and The Ides of March from George Clooney, who also stars in the film.

The 10-day festival will run from September 8 to 18 and feature world premieres from a number of esteemed directors including, Cameron Crowe, Roland Emmerich, Francis Ford Coppola, Marc Foster, Alexander Payne, Sarah Polley, Jennifer Westfeldt, and Wang Xiaoshual.

“The international scope and diversity of voices in these programmes are impressive and inspiring,” said Piers Handling,...

If you're more interested in the typical fall slate of festival entrees than summer's glut of tentpole action fare, this is a great week. The Toronto International Film Festival announced the first wave of films that will play the fest in September. This is a batch of about 50 titles, which makes up only a small chunk of the programming. Usually Tiff features between two and three hundred films. But these are some of the highest-profile entries. Below you'll find rundowns on the new films from George Clooney, Bennett Miller, Jay & Mark Duplass, Todd Solondz, Francis Ford Coppola, Cameron Crowe, Sarah Polley, Fernando Meirelles, Lars von Trier, Marc Forster, Steve McQueen, Alexander Payne, and Lynne Ramsay. No announcement yet of the Midnight Madness programming choices, always some of my faves, but this is a great start. This is quite the list -- there are easily thirty films here that could be potential top ten for 2011 candidates,...

The Toronto International Film Festival is once again proving to be a major stop on the festival circuit. The announcement was released yesterday of 53 titles, including 31 world premieres, and some of the biggest names of the year are among them. Most, if not all, of the films I am most looking forward to will be in attendance, and with the festival just around the corner, the time to get excited for these offerings is now.

Check out the full release below.

Now in its 36th year, the Toronto International Film Festival® today unveiled a selection of films in the 2011 Galas and Special Presentations programmes. The selection comprises 10 Galas and 43 Special Presentations, including 31 World Premieres. Running from September 8 to 18, this year’s Festival presents the world premieres of films from directors Bruce Beresford, Luc Besson, Rémi Bezancon, Cameron Crowe, Terence Davies, Mathieu Demy, Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass, Roland Emmerich, Julian Farino,...

It looks like we're in for another great year at the Toronto International Film Festival, and I'm excited to be just a little bit closer to the action this time around. The very first titles from the 2011 fest were announced today, and there were definitely a lot of familiar faces among the 10 Galas and 43 Special Presentations. George Clooney is back with two films this year (The Ides of March and The Descendants) and many other Tiff alumni are returning with their latest works including David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method), Lars Von Trier (Melancholia), Todd Solondz (Dark Horse), Fernando Meirelles (360), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Steve McQueen (Shame), Pedro Almodóvar (The Skin I Live In), Michael Winterbottom (Trishna) and Sarah Polley (Take This Waltz). Both Moneyball and 50/50 fill the requisite "big September release with awards potential" slots, while Roland Emmerich's Anonymous was a bit of a surprise pick. However, for the first time ever,...

The tentative schedule for the Toronto International Film Festival has just been released. The festival, which runs from September 8th to the 18th, will be held in Toronto, Canada, and will feature a total of 53 Gala and Special Presentation films. There are some films that have been anxiously sitting on the shelves like A Dangerous Method and new and upcoming films like Moneyball and 50/50. You can check out the current schedule over at the Tiff website.

Opening Night:

From the Sky Down

(dir. Davis Guggenheim, USA)

Twenty years after the release of U2′s Achtung Baby (1991), Davis Guggenheim (Waiting for Superman, An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud) charts this groundbreaking album with new interviews, stories and unseen footage from Berlin and Dublin. Now a key chapter in their career, Achtung Baby was in Bono’s words “the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree.” “For the first...

The Toronto International Film Festival, which has become an increasingly important platform for awards-seeking titles in recent years (Both The King’s Speech and Black Swan played there last year), announced its 2011 line-up this morning.

The 11-day festival, set to kick off on Sept. 8, will feature the world premieres of Moneyball, a baseball drama starring Brad Pitt; 50/50, a cancer dramedy with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen; Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, a drama starring George Clooney; Butter, a butter-carving satire featuring Jennifer Garner and Hugh Jackman; Albert Nobbs, an Iris-set period drama starring Glenn Close; and Francis Ford Coppola’s murder-mystery Twixt,...

Toronto International Film Festival announces 2011 festival galas and special presentations.

A Dangerous Method by director David Cronenberg

It’s that time of year again! With the 2011 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival just around the corner, the festival group today announced the first batch of special presentations and galas.

Toronto can expect films from some of the most important and influential directors working today. The 2011 festival will feature world premieres from directors like Luc Besson, Cameron Crowe, Mark Duplass, Roland Emmerich, Francis Ford Coppola, Marc Foster, Alexander Payne, Sarah Polley and Michael Winterbottom. The fest will also play host to North American debuts from Pedro Almodóvar, George Clooney, David Cronenberg, Ralph Fiennes, William Friedkin, Ann Hui, Madonna(huh?), Steve McQueen, Todd Solondz and Lars von Trier. It’s definitely a great line-up, be sure to check out the full list below.

And this announcement is just the tip of the iceberg.

Tiff's co-directors Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling have got us salivating with the smorgasbord list of world premiere offerings for next September. Opening film comes as a surprise, as we've haven't heard much about it, but seeing that doc filmmaker Davis Guggenheim has a great relationship with the festival, From The Sky Down a doc about U2 (20 or so years after Phil Joanou's U2: Rattle & Hum) will take centre stage. Doc-programmer guru Thom Powers makes sure that the fest will be a rocking good edition by also adding Pearl Jam Twenty from fanboy Cameron Crowe. Before we get into the announcements, we can quickly take a look at titles that weren't mentioned. Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar (Nyff?) Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret (got no clue), Alps, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights (venice-bound, might be announced later), Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady (Weinsteins release it in December,...

Sneak Peek attended the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival Opening Press Conference @ Toronto's Hyatt Regency Hotel King Street West, July 26.

This year, the 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), runs for 10 days, from September 8 - 18, 2011.

In typical classy fashion, Tiff organizers provided the early morning media with smoked salmon, kiwis, pineapples, melons, croissants and fruit juices, in The Hyatt Mezzanine ballroom, before making their professional podium presentation.

Highlights of the conference:

For the first time in 36 years, Tiff will open with a documentary, screening David Guggenheim's U2 rock band feature "From The Sky Down";

Canadian director Sarah Polley will debut her new comedy "Take This Waltz";

Galas will include "Moneyball"" starring Brad Pitt.

Tiff will also premier "The Descendants, starring George Clooney, directed by Alexander Payne ("Sideways");

"Pearl Jam Twenty" will screen, created from more than 1,200 hours of footage spanning the band’s career;

Also screening is director William Friedkin...

Emile Hirsch and Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe

Photo: Voltage Pictures I don't know where to begin considering the number of names I could drop that will be featured at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival as this morning the fest unveiled a selection of films in the 2011 Galas and Special Presentations programs. I'll begin by saying of the 10 Galas and 43 Special Presentations you are looking at 31 world premieres and you can add one more with the addition of the fest's opening night film, Davis Guggenheim's U2 documentary From the Sky Down.

Directors making their world premieres at the festival include Bruce Beresford, Luc Besson, Remi Bezancon, Cameron Crowe, Terence Davies, Mathieu Demy, Jay and Mark Duplass, Roland Emmerich, Julian Farino, Jim Field Smith, Francis Ford Coppola, Marc Foster, Rodrigo Garcia, Lasse Hallstrom, Huh Jong-ho, Cedric Khan, Jonathan Levine, Jamie Linden, Derick Martini, Fernando Meirelles, Bennett Miller, Oren Moverman, Daniel Nettheim,...

Straight from the Twitter feed of festival co-director Cameron Bailey comes the first wave of titles from this year's Toronto Film Festival. And they are:

-"Trishna," directed by Michael Winterbottom, starring Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed (World Premiere)

-"The Lady," directed by Luc Besson, starring Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis (Wp)

-"Countdown," directed by Huh Jong-ho (Wp) starring Jeon Do-yeon (Wp)

-"360," directed by Fernando Mereilles, starring Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and Anthony Hopkins. (Wp)

-"Moneyball," directed by Bennett Miller, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill (Wp)

The festival announced the rest of the first wave of titles at a press conference earlier today (you can read quotes from the announcement plus synopses for all the movies over on indieWIRE). Highlights include new movies from George Clooney, Alexander Payne, Cameron Crowe, Madonna, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, The Duplass Brothers, and Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud...

Update: A batch of new photos from some of the films below have been released. Check them out here.

After Cannes kicks off in the spring, Venice and Toronto are the two biggest kickstarters for the 2011 awards race. This morning the latter festival have announced their initial line-up, and it is fantastic. Toronto International Film Festival will run from September 8th to 18th, and you can see the full line-up below, but I’m most excited for new films from David Cronenberg, Steve McQueen, Sarah Polly, Francis Ford Coppola, Oren Moverman and many more. Davis Guggenheim’s U2 documentary From the Sky Down will open the fest. Check out the full list of gala and special presentations below, along with each synopsis. We’ll be there covering the fest as well.

Galas

Albert Nobbs Rodrigo Garcia, Ireland

World Premiere

A witty Irish-set period drama about the lives of staff at...

Now in its 36th year, the Toronto International Film Festival® today unveiled a selection of films in the 2011 Galas and Special Presentations programs. The selection comprises 10 Galas and 43 Special Presentations, including 31 World Premieres. Running from September 8 to 18, this year‟s Festival presents the world premieres of films from directors Bruce Beresford, Luc Besson, Rémi Bezancon, Cameron Crowe, Terence Davies, Mathieu Demy, Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass, Roland Emmerich, Julian Farino, Jim Field Smith, Francis Ford Coppola, Marc Foster, Rodrigo Garcia, Lasse Hallstrom, Huh Jong-ho, Cédric Khan, Jonathan Levine, Jamie Linden, Derick Martini, Fernando Meirelles, Bennett Miller, Oren Moverman, Daniel Nettheim, Pawel Pawlikowski, Alexander Payne, Sarah Polley, Malgoska Szumowska, Jonathan Teplitzky, Jennifer Westfeldt, Michael Winterbottom and Wang Xiaoshuai.Filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar, George Clooney, David Cronenberg, Ralph Fiennes, William Friedkin, Ann Hui, Madonna, Steve McQueen, Nanni Moretti, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, Lynne Ramsay, Todd Solondz, Morten Tyldum and Lars von Trier...

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

I missed the first press screening of The Tree of Life on Monday morning having walked from the apartment Owf are renting just off the seafront in Cannes unknowingly without my accreditation pass. Gutted, I knew it was too late to turn back, find the pass, and make it in on time and so I went back to bed in sheer despair that a movie I have waited several years for director Terrence Malick to showcase was going to go unseen by me at the first opportunity because of my own bloody absentmindedness.

Instead then I caught the mid-day second screening a few hours later which was still 100% packed to the rafters of people who like me missed the morning one. Maybe even some repeat viewers were there, who knows? The atmosphere and anticipation was still rife and I had not yet read the online reaction to the film on purpose.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

I missed the first press screening of The Tree of Life on Monday morning having walked from the apartment Owf are renting just off the seafront in Cannes unknowingly without my accreditation pass. Gutted, I knew it was too late to turn back, find the pass, and make it in on time and so I went back to bed in sheer despair that a movie I have waited several years for director Terrence Malick to showcase was going to go unseen by me at the first opportunity because of my own bloody absentmindedness.

Instead then I caught the mid-day second screening a few hours later which was still 100% packed to the rafters of people who like me missed the morning one. Maybe even some repeat viewers were there, who knows? The atmosphere and anticipation was still rife and I had not yet read the online reaction to the film on purpose.

A word of advice for this round, Maggie: Stay Home!

Ah, but then we wouldn't have a movie, would we? Though plot details are currently top secret on "Taken 2," it's probably a good guess that Maggie Grace will once again be the cause of or at least involved in another kidnapping drama of some sort now that she's officially signed on for the sequel, according to Deadline.

In the original "Taken," Maggie was kidnapped by sex slave traders, which caused Liam Neeson, who played her dad, to punch, torture and/or kill every last person in France. Good thing he got her back alive, otherwise Liam may've sunk the entire country into the sea.

Liam is apparently back for "Taken 2" as well, after some short-lived nonsense involving producer Luc Besson possibly re-casting the role to accommodate Neeson's desire for a vacation (sleep when you're dead, Irish!).

Olivier Megaton,...

How did Dirk Bogarde get from Doctor in the House to The Night Porter? With a wilful desire to destroy his matinee idol status. And the signs were there for all to see in his early work

The Odeon, Leicester Square, 1960. The red-carpet premiere of a film that will change the story of British film and British society. The lights are killed, the crowd falls silent. The roar of industrial machinery thrums from the speakers. And over the noise comes the voice of the hero, a Brylcreemed lathe-operator with greasy overalls and insolent good looks. "Don't let the bastards grind you down," says Dirk Bogarde, and with those words, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and its star give instant definition to the new decade.

In some fairly proximate parallel universe, this is how the 1960s might have begun. It could have happened here, too, if the owner of Pinewood studios...

Yann Arthus-Bertrand isn't just an aerial photographer: he's on a mission to save mankind by teaching us to love our beautiful planet. To many, he is France's answer to Al Gore, but why do some think he's an 'enormous idiot'?

In 2005, while filming the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Yann Arthus-Bertrand fell to earth in a helicopter accident. On the way down, he says, he had no fear of dying, but he was filled with thoughts of "home". When he discovered he'd survived, this feeling crystallised into two separate imperatives. He had an urgent need to phone his wife: "I'm alive!" he announced breathlessly. "Why are you phoning me at three in the morning to tell me that?" she wondered, unamused. And he had a longing for a glass of wine. "Wine is France, it is alive, it is love! I wanted it deeply. It's my terroir!"

Arthus-Bertrand is recalling this...

Isabella Rossellini is hoping that her Italian narration for Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s documentary Home will encourage people to look after the planet.

The French filmmaker shot the film from the sky, giving a unique view of the Earth and showing the impact humans are having on it.

“I knew of his work for a long time so I said yes without hesitation, so I could get to know him,” said Rossellini at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. "He’s somebody that I’ve admired for 20 years.

Read more...

Isabella Rossellini hopes the stunning new Yann Arthus-bertrand movie she narrates will prompt people around the world to do more for the environment.

The actress jumped at the chance to lend her voice to the Italian version of documentary Home - because she feels the film, which the French filmmaker shot from the sky, will have a major impact on green culture.

Speaking at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, she says, "I knew of his work for a long time so I said yes without hesitation, so I could get to know him. He's somebody that I've admired for 20 years.

"I think that the power of this film is that he has found a very simple solution by photographing the earth from above, from the aerial view to give you the feeling that you are objective and just looking down at something and you have an overall view.

"Whether you decide how much you want to be involved in the environmental movement or not; it does make you fall in love with the earth. I think that's the power of the film. I think environmentalists will love the film but I think the people that are not particularly involved with the environment will have that feeling that our earth is a wonderful planet."...

By Pete Hammond

HollywoodNews.com: It was a week in movies where all the action was in other countries with the Venice Film Festival wrapping up in Italy and the Toronto International Film Festival just getting under way in Canada.

So with the field all to itself in this country and not shown in advance to critics, a wise move considering its current dismal 14% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the week’s one lone wide release “Resident Evil: Afterlife” shows there is some life after all in Screen Gems’ durable but dopey franchise mixing Zombies and Jovavich (as in Milla). Earning an estimated $27.7 million for the Slow three day back-to-school post-summer weekend, ‘Afterlife’ scored the series’ best opening numbers ever, well over the last two entries “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” and “Resident Evil: Extinction” which both opened to about $23 mill(a)ion each without the benefit of 3D’s hiked prices that this one had.

From Paris With Love (Blu-Ray)Lionsgate Home Entertainment2010/Rated R/93 minsList Price $39.99 – Available June 8, 2010What is it with John Travolta and action movies? The actor who has enjoyed a career full of second and third comings has never been able to find the right vehicle within the genre. John Woo's 1997 Face/Off was a fluke because the picture turned out to be an interesting hybrid of brutal action and emotional drama. Travolta is an excellent dramatic actor and has shown some nearly flawless timing in comedic ventures, yet when he attempts to combine the two, he looks rather silly. Face/Off was the exception because Travolta was in fact playing two characters: determined and emotionally scarred FBI agent Sean Archer and the psychotic killer who destroys his life and steals his face Castor Troy. As action packed as that film was it was the psychological duel between Travolta and...

Crowe Makes Himself at Home in a Zoo: Cameron Crowe is heading back to the director's chair for the first time since 2005's Elizabethtown with We Bought a Zoo, an adaptation of Benjamin Mee's memoir, "We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever" telling the story of a family who move into a rundown zoo. Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) penned the first draft, which Crowe is now rewriting with the film already set for a December 23, 2011 release date from 20th Century Fox. [Variety]

Fox Preps Their Own 20,000 Leagues: With news David Fincher is set to direct a remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea just last week, 20th Century Fox has thrown their hat in the ring as well with news Ridley and Tony Scott are set to put into production...

Happy Mother’s Day to Mother Earth. HuffPo Home starts slowly. But it’s worth allowing yourself to slip into the near-meditative state that the paced montage, paired with plaintive tribal music,...

Even if you don't know his name, you probably know his images. Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a master of creating photographs so stunning, so impactful, that they really might be able to save the world - or at least help to. His method is to get somewhere high and mobile, usually a helicopter or a paraglider, and point his camera downward. The results are usually magnificent, and last year, they inspired a film. Home starts slowly. But it's worth allowing yourself to slip into the near-meditative state that the paced montage, paired with plaintive tribal music, elicits. You can almost feel your heartbeats decelerate as narrator Glenn Close explains the beginnings of the universe, of our Earth. You're still feeling peaceful when she says, "Every species has its place. None is harmful or futile. They all balance out." But then, 200,000 years ago,...

The Alamo Guide

for March 4th, 2010

Ah March… the sun is shining, the trees are greening and people from all over the world are about to invade our fair city for SXSW and give us their money. You gotta love the few weeks of spring we get in Texas. Pretty soon it’s going to be hot as balls. Sure, it’ll drop down to 35 probably at some point, but worry not, it’ll be 80 the next day.If you haven’t been into the theater since last week, we put our new Spring Menu Specials up! They are crazy tasty, and come highly recommended from everyone at Alamo HQ. Some of those specials are for the big opener this weekend, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland In 3D! I’ve loved Tim Burton for years, and I love Alamo feasts, so you can find me at the Alice Five-course Feast next Wednesday.

YouTube's modest foray into the movie rental business couldn't find a more fitting launchpad than the wintry Sundance Film Festival: What might seem the size of a snowball today could turn into an avalanche.

Or it just might melt away.

It didn't exactly send shock waves through the film world when YouTube announced Wednesday that it will stream five indie titles to users for a day or two at $3.99 a pop. Google execs will be at Sundance to sign up more filmmakers for the service.

Sure, it was the first entertainment product to come with a price tag on a Web site where everything is free, but fare such as "The Cove," the 2009 Sundance winner for best doc, isn't going to move the masses.

But despite the inauspicious start and the numerous obstacles that stand in YouTube's way, underestimation could be a mistake. Even a baby step is a big...

You haven't seen Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale? Then you haven't dipped a toe into the motliest crew on record

The other day I finally got a chance to see Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale, a documentary I'd been meaning to get to for some time. Chronicling the adventures of assorted young Iranians who sell their kidneys to buy a taxi, or finance their ­education, or pay off debts, Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale is not the kind of movie that is readily available at most local video stores. But it is available – free – in the movie section at YouTube. So is a lot of other stuff.

Mostly when I visit YouTube it is to watch cats falling off chairs, parodies of Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker or sportscasters being tormented by stalking sock puppets. But it was recently pointed out to me that YouTube also has a section that is...

Opening the fest is the North American premiere of Emmanuel Mouret's French sex comedy Please Please Me! (which I think should logically be picked up for the U.S. market - see trailer here) and the ten day fest will be closing with the North American premiere of Radu Mihaileanu's The Concert - a Weinstein Co. title starring Melanie Laurent that will most likely open sometime early in 2010. - Now in its 15th year, Montreal's Cinemania Film Festival, one of North America's better French language fests has unveiled its 30-title roster with its usual mix of films from the big four (Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Toronto) and select tiles from the Rotterdams, Locarnos, Karlovy Varys and Sundances. Opening the fest is the North American premiere of Emmanuel Mouret's French sex comedy Please Please Me! (which I think should logically be picked up for the U.

We've all had that friendship that was cut short for whatever reason — because your family moved, because you switched jobs, because you were a "greaser" and they were a "soc" — and we're left to wonder: what might have been?

The same is true for gays on television. Television programs are canceled for a lot of reasons, and it's definitely not always because of a lack of quality.

But what if these characters had stuck around a little longer? Who knows what kind of adoring or intimate relationship we viewers might have developed with them?

Here are a few of the folks I'd like to rescue from the Island of Lost Gay TV Characters:

Fred Savage as Mitch Crumb with co-star Jane Curtain

Mitch Crumb (from Crumbs)

If there was ever a show that coulda been a contender, it was Crumbs, a 2006 vehicle for a grown-up Fred Savage (who had become...

Chicago – All seven season of the Emmy-winning, groundbreaking “The Shield,” easily one of the best programs of the ’00s, have been collected into one absolutely gorgeous set for “The Shield: The Complete Series Collection”. This time of year usually produces several complete series sets to essentially re-sell already available programs to holiday shoppers. This is one of the best.

DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0

The 88 episodes of “The Shield” have been collection on 28 Dvds, beautifully housed in a 34-page bound anthology book filled with photos, quotes, and a special letter from Shawn Ryan. Purely from a packaging perspective, “The Shield” is one of the most beautiful sets that a TV fan could include on their shelf. Sometimes complete series sets are literally nothing more than the previous releases crammed into one box. That’s not the case here as the entire show has been lovingly bound like a book you want to read again.

Sleepwalking Land (Terra Sonâmbula) is a vividly real film that tells a somewhat surreal story about life in Mozambique. The film is directed by Portuguese filmmaker Teresa Prata, based on the increasingly popular and well-respected 1992 novel of the same name by author Mia Couto. This is a movie deserving of a larger audience than it has currently been receiving, screened primarily at international film festivals.

Prata spent seven years making Sleepwalking Land, a feat that demands acknowledgment. The story is that of a young African boy named Muidinga, a name given to him by an elderly man named Tuihir (Aladino Jasse) who claims to have rescued Muindinga from his village before the armed bandits that plague the rural African landscape could capture or kill him. Muidinga (Nick Lauro Teresa) suffers memory loss as a result of eating spoiled yam root, so he’s naturally curious about his past.

As Muidinga and Uncle Tuihir,...

‘Home‘ screened at Granville 7, Vancouver International Film Festival on October 16, 2009

By Robert Shaer

Movie: Home

Director: Yann-Arthus Bertrand

The first stunning images of Yann-Arthus Bertrand’s newest film, Home, are of a landscape continuously shaped by the volcanoes that dominate it. This is a world appearing free from human influence remaining a ‘living record that offers us a glimpse of what Earth was like at its birth’ suggests the narrator. Better known for his aerial still photography, notably the book and traveling exhibit Earth From Above, Yann-Arthus Bertrand offers Home as spectacular view of the world consistent with a body of work that spans every continent and too many countries to count. It is also an unapologetic and somewhat dour look at the precarious imbalance between human industry and the natural world.

I first encountered Bretrand’s work late in 2003, at an outdoor exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London,...

DVD Playhouse—July 2009

By

Allen Gardner

Do The Right Thing: 20th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Spike Lee’s groundbreaking fable about race relations in an ethnically mixed Brooklyn neighborhood during a sweltering New York summer remains as potent, timely and prescient as it was in 1989. Lee is among the cast, which also includes John Turturro, Danny Aiello, Samuel L. Jackson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Rosie Perez (to name a few), that provide the tableaux-like framework for this stunning work. Criminally ignored by Oscar (it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, but did garner nods for Supporting Actor Danny Aiello and Lee’s screenplay), it endures as a timeless classic. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Lee, Ernest Dickerson, Wynn Thomas, Joie Lee; Documentary; Deleted and extended scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.

Coraline (Universal) A young girl moves into an old Victorian house with her parents...

Home is a film that you will want to see over and over again. In stunning visuals, narrated by Glenn Close, the story of Earth, our home, is told in terms of man.s connection with his environment. It is beautiful, glorious, sad, exciting, wistful, triumphant and terrifying, all at the same time. Aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand has made a film showing places on Earth many of us will never see for ourselves, but yet are an important part of our existence. We are all connected, and this film with its narrative so touchingly delivered by actress Glenn Close makes the viewer understand the relationships among all living things on this miraculous blue planet. Beginning with early man as hunter/gatherer...

Paris -- Yann Arthus-Bertrand's eco-friendly documentary "Home" was a multiplatform hit in Gaul over the weekend, with the Europacorp-produced ode to planet Earth seeing strong boxoffice results, TV audience shares and DVD sales in the territory.

The highly publicized "Home," which aired in primetime at 8:35 p.m. Friday on public TV network France 2, attracted 8.3 million viewers, nabbing a 33% market share for the time slot. By 9:48 p.m., 9.5 million people were watching the film, for a 37.8% market share.

French Cultural Minister Christine Albanel highlighted the "historic success" of the unprecedented film and told Gallic press: "By programming this, France Televisions is responding fully to the demand on the part of viewers to watch quality public TV capable of alerting, transmitting, moving and entertaining."

More than 40,000 people came out to see "Home" in French movie theaters on Friday, and the film was the third-biggest DVD release in French history,...

• While nothing beats the big screen, you have to admire a documentary film that respected its own carbon footprint and isn't profit-driven, as is the case when the Yann Arthus-Bertrand directed Home – the first simultaneous online and offline film debut that pulled in some impressive numbers via its YouTube channel. Click here to view. The doc film's aerial photography is impressive even on a laptop screen and the 'mother earth' narration offers informative bits (did you know that Costa Rica said screw the army, put that money towards its natural resources instead?) and not a complete downer as a reality check doc film. I'll admit to skimming thru this one (will watch the rest in portions this coming week) but its strength is in taking the numbers and making concrete prognostications – if Americans are worried about Mexicans crossing the border wait until “climate refugees” are trying to make it into JFK airport.

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Today saw the release of Home, a new film by acclaimed filmmakers Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Luc Besson. What makes this event exceptional is that it is the first film to be released simultaneously in the cinema, on TV, on DVD and via the Internet across the globe. This evening even saw a free screening at the Eiffel Tower, in Central Park and Trafalgar Square. Watch It Now Shot in 54 countries, Home takes us on an journey all around the planet, to contemplate and understand how humanity has upset the balance of the planet, established by nearly four billion years of evolution. View the May 5th press release: View the trailer: If you would like to watch the 90 minute documentary for free online you can see it here until June 14th. Watch it in HD for truly beautiful footage. Watch It Now ...

As we explained in our UK releases article published earlier today, we have a double edition for you this week after we missed lasts week’s round up because of some technical difficulties that have now been resolved.

The last two weeks of new releases in North America haven’t been particularly great, especially if you compare them with the stacked release list for the 19th of May, which featured a whole bunch of must have discs. As always, check out our “pick of the week” and links to all of the new releases below.

Highlights this week start with our pick for the UK releases a couple of weeks back with Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber’s “Defiance” which we would still recommend, The BBC has another incredible nature documentary to follow up “Planet Earth” with in “Nature’s Most Amazing Events” which features more stunning HD footage, and...

"We're more than just dogs on skateboards." YouTube plans to premiere their first * movie, Reuters says (via The Hollywood Reporter), in an apparent bid to increase revenue, reach profitability, and, perhaps, appear more appealing to advertisers. (The opening statement was made by the company's Paris-based partner development manager.) Yann Arthus-Bernard's documentary Home, produced by Luc Besson, will debut simulatenously in theaters and on YouTube, evidently in the near future.

As I'm writing this article, I'm also watching Werner Herzog's Little Dieter Needs to Fly on YouTube. (I have a 19-inch monitor adjacent to my laptop, which makes it easier to watch and work simultaneously.) The quality is good, though the commercial interruptions are jarring, the same as they are with other free, online viewing sites. The ads are played at pre-determined, timed intervals, and so often appear in the middle of a scene.

YouTube gained its fame from user-submitted content,...